When asked what is next for Steam in 2008, Lombardi responded by saying:

We’re looking at more casual games and international games. And we’re also looking at other types of content like video and music. We’re definitely having those conversations and meetings, and we’re reaching out to folks with other types of digital entertainment. I think before the end of the year, you’ll probably see some pilot programs with other digital entertainment on Steam.

So, does this mean we will be seeing movies and music on Steam? I am dubious how well that would work. I don’t believe Steam would allow you to transfer music to other devices or movies to a disc for viewing on your TV, but maybe this is something we will see introduced alongside the digital content. Alternatively, it could mean a focus on unsigned groups for music and a YouTube style video service. We will just have to wait to find out.

Steam is certainly popular with over 15 million people registered and is surely going to be a tempting offer for music and movie publishers. It also has the added bonus of already proving how good the service is through the distribution of hundreds of games.

The expansion of casual and international games is also good news and should hopefully see work from more independent developers making it on to the service.

Reader Comments

frag68

Though Valve initially took a lot of heat for basically forcing users to use the Steam interface to play their games, the service has proved itself. I love not having to touch any discs when formatting my hard drive. I just d/l steam, log in, and download my games again.

My only concern would be that as the Steam services expand, so will the footprint of the program. IF they can keep everything how it is (i.e. a webpage interface for most current content) then that’s fine. But no one wants to see another piece of bloatware when all they want to do is play some CS:S.